New York stocks rise on hopes Iran ceasefire will hold; 'fear gauge' returns to pre-war level

[Financial News]

The NYSE continued its upward trend on the 9th.
Relief that the ceasefire deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran will likely continue helped lift the major indexes.
The State of Israel, which had raised concerns that the agreement could collapse by continuing airstrikes on Lebanon, agreed to enter talks with Lebanon, boosting expectations that the ceasefire will last.
Investor anxiety eased significantly.
The Wall Street fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), dropped back below the 20-point psychological threshold.
Amazon surged more than 5% after news that revenue from its semiconductor business has grown to rival that of Broadcom.
By contrast, defense-focused artificial intelligence (AI) stock Palantir Technologies plunged more than 7% on expectations that the ceasefire agreement will hold.

The three major indexes shook off the jitters that followed the previous session’s close and continued to move higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed 275.88 points, or 0.58%, to finish at 48,185.80, while the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index rose 41.85 points, or 0.62%, to close at 6,824.66.
The Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) advanced 187.42 points, or 0.83%, to end the session at 22,822.42.
Helped by the day’s gains, the DJIA has now turned positive for the year, up 0.25% in 2024. However, the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq are still down 0.30% and 1.81%, respectively, year to date.
As risk sentiment stabilized, the Wall Street fear gauge VIX tumbled 1.55 points, or 7.37%, to 19.49.
It was the first time VIX had fallen below 20 since February 27, just before the United States and the State of Israel launched airstrikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran. At that time, VIX stood at 19.86.

Amazon and Palantir Technologies saw sharply diverging fortunes.
Amazon jumped $12.40, or 5.60%, to close at $233.65, while Palantir Technologies sank $10.27, or 7.30%, to $130.49.
Palantir Technologies had rallied on the back of supplying an AI platform to the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for the Iran war effort, but it is now struggling as the ceasefire takes hold.
Amazon, meanwhile, surged after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andy Jassy said the company’s in-house AI chip business has entered a full-fledged growth phase.
Jassy noted that Amazon’s chips are replacing some Nvidia chips and added that the company is considering selling them to third parties.
In a letter to shareholders, Jassy said that Amazon’s AI chips, including AWS Trainium and AWS Graviton, are generating about $20 billion in annual revenue. Sales have roughly doubled in just a few months.
He went on to explain that if third-party sales ramp up in earnest, annual revenue could reach $50 billion. That would exceed the roughly $10.7 billion in quarterly revenue currently expected for Broadcom.

Nvidia gained $1.83, or 1.01%, to close at $183.91, while Apple added $1.59, or 0.61%, to finish at $260.49.
Alphabet rose $1.17, or 0.37%, to $318.49, and Tesla advanced $2.37, or 0.39%, to end at $345.62.
Microsoft Corporation, however, slipped $1.26, or 0.34%, to close at $373.07.
dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter